


Partners

by orphan_account



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: Ficlet, Humor, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-20 18:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20679845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A new Wired profile uses some ambiguous wording.





	Partners

**Author's Note:**

> x-posted to my [tumblr](http://abstractdave.tumblr.com)

Richard was still sleeping at Jared’s place. He could more than afford to move out, Jared could get him several different options, but he was afraid that might be construed as him wishing to be rid of Richard. Or even worse, that he’d actually move out. No, Jared liked it this way. This way he could make sure he was eating, that he was taking his anxiety medicine, that his clothes were clean and that he was getting sleep every once in a while. And moreover, he enjoyed the company.

At night, when it was just the two of them, Richard visibly relaxed. It was like seeing a whole other, equally wonderful side to him. His shoulders came down, his smile became easy and less some kind of defensive mechanism, the endless whirring of his brilliant mind seemed to flow easier. What a privilege to see Richard like that. He truly felt they were friends now. He’d asked him about his childhood and what kind of movies he liked and the places he’d like to see. Sometimes Richard asked him questions back but Jared tried not saying too much as Richard never appeared to like the answers.

He looked very relaxed at the moment, in a t-shirt and boxer shorts eating cereal on the sofabed (which Jared had meticulously arranged after he got up).

“Look what I have,” Jared said, grinning. Richard turned and looked at Jared holding up the latest Wired, an illustration of Richard’s beaky face against a stark yellow background on the cover.

“Oh, wow.”

Jared handed him the magazine. “I subscribe, so I get it a little early. It’ll be in stores in a day or two.”

“You read the article though, right? They sent it to you prior to printing?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s… factually correct, right?”

“Mmhmm,” Jared confirmed brightly, absentmindedly clearing away Richard’s empty cereal bowl. Richard sighed contentedly and started reading. “can I get you a drink?”

“Oh yeah, coffee would be really nice if you’re making it…”

“I certainly am,” Jared confirmed and went to turn the coffeemaker on.

For a moment there was nothing except comfortable silence and the hum of the coffeemaker, lovely smell wafting through the apartment, then Richard went “aaaAAHHH” in a weird, high-pitched kind of moan.

“Richard? Is something wrong?”

“Uhhh, uh, you said you approved of this text!”

“I read it very thoroughly five times,” Jared said, instantly hating himself for making excuses. “oh, no. Oh no. Six times the charm. Oh god. What did I miss?”

Richard started reading aloud in a reedy voice. _“’Hendricks lives with C.O.O. and partner Jared Dunn (32) in a modest Palo Alto condo. When asked, Dunn says working together has never put a strain on their relationship. "He is my favourite person, so I’m very happy to spend every day with him,” Dunn gushes. “it’s been five years now and it just keeps getting better.” Formerly workmates at Hooli, Dunn followed Hendricks to build Pied Piper together and is considered among the staff to be the stabilising yin to Hendricks’ mercurial yang. “Richard is the genius, but there is no way he could do this without Jared,” one staffer comments. “they complete each other.”’_ Jared, what the FUCK.“

"Oh. Oh my god, I am so sorry. I completely missed that.”

“Yeahh–”

“It really paints me in a far too complimentary light. I suppose when I read that I just enjoyed the flattery - oh, Donald, vanity be thy name–”

“Wait, what? No. No. The problem, Jared, is that it makes it sound like–”

“What? I mean, I suppose I could have come clean with the whole Hoolicon thing. I think that put a little bit of strain on our relationship. Temporarily. But frankly, I didn’t feel like the world needed to know.”

“No! Not that!”

“What?” Jared asked helplessly, desperate to know what is wrong so he can fix it.

“It makes it sound like we’re fucking,” Richard hissed.

Jared frowned. “What? No.”

“Yes!”

“No, I don’t think so, Richard.”

“YES, IT DOES!”

“Nothing here is infactual. We live together. We’re partners. You, um… you are my favourite person,” Jared said a little shyly. “you know that.”

“Jared.” Richard threw himself backwards on the sofa, arms over his eyes. “When people write “partner” without putting “business” first, right before saying they live together, it means, unequivocally, that they are fucking.“

"I’m very sorry,” Jared said. “the thought genuinely did not occur. I’ll get on the phone right away, make them put a disclaimer on their website and social media.”

“Don’t bother.”

“What? Why not?”

Richard sighed. “I’ll take the phone calls from my family members when they come but frankly, cohabiting with wonderful boyfriend sure sounds a lot less pathetic than crashing at your C.O.O.’s place for three months because you’re a woman-repeller who can’t even get his shit together enough to buy a fucking apartment.”

“Wonderful?” Jared repeated, tilting his head. Richard flushed. “Oh! The coffee.”


End file.
